21.5'' iMac - Screen Noise

Finally, after a week, the repaircenter has finished the diagnose. They admitted that the high pitching sound was there (Led Board problem) but that it is "within specifications" of apple. The yellowing was there too, they'll replace the screen for a new one.

So, what's next. I called the shop and they told me: "well, we can't do anything. Mail our technical services". I'm going to the shop this afternoon to talk about this. This is ridiculous! I'm doing business with the shop, not with apple so the shop must suggest a good solution!

Keep you posted. I now prefer money back instead of a new machine!

<Edited by Host>

I bought a new iMac in Japan and it has the same problem.

About first 3 weeks there are no noise, if the brightness is 0-3.
Therefore I had used my iMac setting the brightness 3, although it is some dark.
But recently it has the noise, when the brightness is only 2.
I decided to have my iMac repaired.

I wonder that there are no discussions about this problem in japanese Apple Discussions.

I went to the store last thursday. They told me that they would listen to the sound again when the machine would be back from repairs. I already told them that, whatever their conclusion would be, I would not accept it and I would return it on the spot!

I have a feeling this is going to take a while.

Kind regards
Laurens

<Edited by Host>

Ok, this is looking good.....NOT! I called the store yesterday to get a statusupdate. The repaircenter had to order a new screen, but guess what, it is "temporarily unavailable".

This is going to take a long time I think, and when it is finally returned, we still have to deal with the noise issue!

Kind regards
Laurens

ps: did anyone notice the <edited by host> mark in some of my posts? I think I have an idea what they removed.

pss: this is the last time I will ever buy expensive products at a normal store! Just buy them online, you can return it within 7 days here in the netherlands. Money back, no questions asked.

Hello Derbystar16,

I have 2 problems with the imac. One is the whistling sound and the other is the yellowing screen.

Just after my previous a received an email from the service center. They did had the screen and where fixing it now. When the screen has been replaced, they'll have another look at the high pitch noise. (the Led board problem)

Lets wait and see!

Cheers!
LS

Yesterday I received my very first Mac - a 21.5" iMac and am also experiencing the high pitched screen noise at middle brightness levels. If I set the screen to the top 2 brightness levels I can no longer hear the noise, but the screen is just too bright at those levels to be comfortable.

Also, some faint yellow tinting is apparent in the bottom half of the screen. To be honest, I could have lived with the tinting but with the screen noise as well, I have made an appointment at the apple store to see what options I have.

I really like the iMacs otherwise and if I can't get a replacement that doesn't suffer from these defects, ie it's a general problem with all iMacs, then I'm not sure what to do. I don't want a Macbook because of the small screen size and slower performance (hard drive, RAM speed etc), and the Mac Pro's are just stupid money! Do I just have to learn to live with it?!

Quite disappointed that my first Mac experience has turned out like this.

I bought mine 2 days ago, and it was the first thing I noticed that night.

I had to turne the brightness down so I didn't blind myself and all of a sudden the god awful high pitched noise!!

Called AppleCare they said to bring it in to be swapped - I hope the new one doesn't suffer from the same thing.

I am sort of surprised that given the number of people complaining and the large number of returned units - Apple hasn't jumped on this and tried to fix it!

Ok, where are we now: I asked the servicecenter for an update after the message that they were replacing the screen because of the yellow color. They said that it would not be ready until next week because they are waiting for a new Led Board.......Wait a minute! That means that they admit that the sreen noise was a problem despite the remark that it wasn't 'out of apples specifications'.

This is going somewhere! 🙂

I have a 21,5" iMac and i can hear the noise. In my assistance point change the alimentation and they say that the problem is "normal". I don't believe that is normal because i can't use my iMac in the way i want.

Why for the iPhone4 and the antennagate all people was interested and for our iMac nothing?

I contacted AppleCare, who were great by the way, and I'm having a replacement delivered tomorrow. I also arranged the pickup for tomorrow as well, as I'm on holiday. Having thought about it tho that was probably a bad move as, assuming TNT are clever enough to use the same delivery to drop off as well as pick up, I won't be able to compare the two machines and choose which one I prefer!

If the replacement iMac I receive tomorrow is no worse in both the screen noise and yellow tinting issues then I think I will just accept these issues as general characteristics of the current iMacs and leave it at that. I don't think I can spend anymore time on this - I just want to get on with using my iMac. Like I said before, the tinting I can live with as it's only very slight and I don't do pro level graphics or design work. The screen noise does bug me but only when I'm really listening for it so I'm hoping in time I will get used to it and forget it's there, kind of like a clock ticking!

Well, I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Just received my replacement and I'm happy enough to keep this one. The screen noise is still there in middle brightness levels, possibly not as loud as in the previous model. The yellowing is also slightly improved but also another issue is resolved which I didn't even think was an issue in my old model, which actually makes the screen noise issue irrelevant for me.

My first iMac had a strange random flicker on low brightness levels, almost like the flickering of a candle. Now I had accepted this as a trait of LED backlights in general because I had experienced the same issue on an LED backlit Dell laptop. However, I was amazed to find that my replacement iMac does not exhibit this issue AT ALL. Across all brightness levels the backlight is steady as a rock. This means I am happy to work at brightness levels that I couldn't with my previous iMac due to the screen flicker, and also these brightness levels do not induce the screen noise either (for the record I am talking about the 7th bar from the left on the brightness scale). Also, when I need to go to nuclear brightness levels I can use the 14th bar from the left and not experience any noise either.

So for me personally I am happy to accept this replacement model and work around the screen noise. I acknowledge that there is still an issue with iMacs and screen noise but I just don't see Apple resolving this completely with software/firmware updates.

Just mailed the service desk of the store where I bought the iMac. They ordered the Led board at apple but, suprise!, apple doesn't have it in stock at the moment so no new ETA of my repair.

I brought it in at the 24th of august and three weeks have passed....

My iMac is returned and the high pitch noise totally disappeared.

Now I can use this iMac at every brightness level.

Apple Care Service says that the noise comes from LED Backlight Board.
They had replaced the Board.

I just bought a new 21.5 bto i5 with 8Gb ram, it has no whistle so there must be some units out there which are ok, it has a Cork in Ireland code for where it was built (even though it says on the box assembled in China) the screen is very slightly yellow but not an issue its pretty good, alas it has a rumbling Seagate hard drive. The noise of the drive is annoying but I'm worried if I swap it I'll get one with a whistle and other issues, like bad pixels or fluff behind the screen. Its a lottery when you buy an iMac and it should not be the case.